Press Releases
08/26/2021
DEEP Commissioner Dykes Celebrates Launch of HRRA Glass Recycling Program
(HARTFORD)—Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) Commissioner Katie Dykes, along with Housatonic Resources Recovery Authority (HRRA) Chairman Matthew Knickerbocker, Oak Ridge Waste and Recycling CEO John Decker, and other industry stakeholders, today celebrated the launch of the HRRA’s new glass recycling program.
Connecticut is facing a solid waste disposal crisis, and increasing our amount of recycled material is one of the ways we can solve it. Cross- contamination of glass, paper and plastic in our mixed recycling stream decreases the amount of material we’re able to successfully recycle.
Beginning September 1st, 2021, residents in the 14 Western Connecticut municipalities served by the HRRA, will be asked to begin separating all “food grade” glass containers from their mixed single-stream recycling, and instead bring glass to a local municipal drop-off center. Examples of “food grade” glass containers include such items as pickle jars, pasta sauce jars, liquor and wine bottles, most clear and tinted beverage containers, etc. It does not include items such as drinking glass, windowpane glass, mirror glass, auto glass, glass or ceramic coffee mugs, which cannot be recycled or remanufactured through the mixed stream recycling system. These non-food grade glass items should never be added to curbside collection bins as they only impede not improve the mixed stream recycling.
Although it is a state mandated recyclable, food grade glass is difficult to recycle once it is broken and intermixed with other recyclables. When mixed with other materials in the single stream process, a large portion of that glass becomes too contaminated to be recycled and is either sent for further processing or to landfills. HRRA’s program to separate and capture the higher-value food-grade glass from other recyclable materials will improve the efficiency of recycling programs, lower costs to homeowners and municipalities, and be great for the environment.
“Increasing recycling is one of the key methods identified by the Connecticut Coalition for Sustainable Materials Management to help solve Connecticut’s waste crisis as we see aging waste-to-energy infrastructure come offline,” DEEP Commissioner Katie Dykes said. “We must take proactive steps toreduce and manage the amount of in-state waste we produce in order to provide system reliability, environmental sustainability, and fiscal predictability for our municipalities. The new glass program initiated by the HRRA is a very positive step in that direction, and aligns with Connecticut’s recently improved Bottle Bill (Public Act 21-58), which calls for a minimum of 80% of wine and liquor bottles sold in the state to be recycled by 2023.”
The HRRA region includes Bethel, Bridgewater, Brookfield, Danbury, Kent, New Fairfield, New Milford, Newtown, Redding, Ridgefield, Roxbury, Sherman, Weston, and Wilton.
Glass recycling containers are available at each municipal recycling center and or for the towns of Sherman and Brookfield, at a municipal location. Site locations are listed at www.HRRA.org
For more information about the HRRA glass recycling program visit www.hrra.org or call HRRA at 203-775-4539 or email info@hrra.org
For more information about the Connecticut Coalition for Sustainable Materials Management, go here. For more information on recycling, what does and doesn’t go into your blue bin, and how to properly dispose of most items, visit RecycleCT.
For more information about Connecticut’s Bottle Bill, go here.
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